World Music Exploration - Traditional Peruvian Music

For October, my students and I are heading to South America to explore the music of Peru. Peruvians have several traditional instruments, including:

• Panpipes: also referred to as "siku", "antara" and "zampoña". Traditionally., these were played in pairs.

• Simple notched-end flutes: known as "quenas". These were made of fragile bamboo.

• Tarkas: vertical flutes

• Bombos or wankaras: deep-sounding, double-headed drums.

Here's a lively clip that features quite a few of these traditional instruments:

(c) 2011 by Musespeak(TM), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.

Colored Mechanical Pencils - A Musician's Dream

Pilot makes these colored mechanical pencils (Pilot Color Eno), which I stumbled upon at my local Staples. Many of my students (including myself) are visual learners so color-coding dynamics, sequences, trouble-spots is just a treat for us. Since they are pencils (and not pencil crayons), they are erasable - just in time for music festivals and exams!

September 3, 2020 update: The coloured pencils are available on Amazon:

Great Performances - Ella Fitzgerald in Berlin

Here is a fantastic example of how to handle those performance glitches. This is from jazz singer's Ella Fitzgerald 1960 performance in Berlin. Partway through, she completely blanked out on the lyrics. True to form, she improvised flawlessly. She was rhyming, she made up lyrics that really made sense. She didn't lose her cool and just went along with it - and it sounded just fine. More than fine.

World Music Exploration - R.E.M.

And here I thought I would have a tough time choosing a pop/rock music selection for this week's entry. R.E.M. made it an easy decision for me. On September 21, 2011, the American band R.E.M. announced that they would be disbanding after 31 years of music collaboration.  The band formed in 1980 in Athens, GA and was comprised of Michael Stipe (vocals), Peter Buck (guitar), Mike Mills (bass) and Bill Berry (drums). The band is credited for having a profound influence on the development of alternative rock.

I couldn't decided between The One I Love  or Losing My Religion, so here's both:

(c) 2011 by Musespeak(TM), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.

World Music Exploration - Ragtime Music

I bet you're expecting to hear Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag or The Entertainer with a title like today's entry. Nope.The fact of the matter is, there were several other ragtime music composers, such as Joseph Lamb, James Scott, Jelly Roll Morton,Charles L. Johnson and May Aufderheide. What defines ragtime music? First off, there's the syncopated melody. If you look at sheet music, you'll see many ties and rests that shift the accents. Next, there's the stride piano bass (the "boom-chick" part). They are all pretty steady, keeping a march-like time. Then there's the form - that's pretty fairly standard; |:A:||:B:|A|:C:| Trio being quite common.

This week's clip is a ragtime version of a famous Star Wars Theme: Cantina Band, performed by Martin Spitznagel & Bryan Wright. Enjoy!

(c) 2011 by Musespeak(TM), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.